Teemothi Devsharma Bhattacharjee

𝗡𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗸 𝗝𝗶, 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗖𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂! 𝗪𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗕𝗝𝗣 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿! Naveen ji, for 24 years, you kept Odisha’s educational reservation at 20%, in medical and engineering admissions. Odisha largely stayed away from the caste-quota politics that dominated the Mandal era. During your regime, caste and reservation were almost a non-issue in Odisha. But we GCs fell for BJP’s Hindutva pitch, campaigned for it on the ground and social media, and helped bring it to power in 2024. What did we get in return? BJP raised educational reservation from 20% to 50%. It has increased the reservation for SCs and STs and introduced 11.25% OBC reservation in medical and engineering admissions for the first time. Worse, caste-based quota politics is now being normalised in a State that had largely resisted it. BJP's political business model is now crystal clear: -Before elections: Sell Hindutva to GCs and seek their votes. -After elections: Expand caste-based reservations and appease other vote banks. -When GCs protest: Tell them they have nowhere else to go! 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗝𝗣, 𝗚𝗖𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀!